How good is the Marantz SA-7S1?

i heard the marantz player today. well.... i am tempted to buy it, but.... , it lacks bloom. i mean it seems to be closer to truth than beauty, but doesn't seem to have any excesses. i fear that the player will not forgive poor recordings. it is expensive and a classic-tube sounding dac or cd player may be a better choice. if you are looking for a straigh-forward player, you won't be disappointed. an example of such a combination is the zanden separates, or perhaps, the amr player, both of which are more expensive than the marantz.

the question is, can you get this performance for less ??

who knows ?

My friend has one, and he loaned it to me for a while. I’ve owned Meitner, Esoteric, Accuphase, Metronome, Goldmund, and a few other heavy hitters, and the SA-7S1 is the most complete and enjoyable player I’ve heard in my system. It may not be the absolute best at everything, but it has no serious flaws, IMO, and has an uncanny way of bringing out the best in every recording, but without sugarcoating or restricting anything. It’s quite a tricky balancing act that few players in my experience can pull off. It’s certainly not cheap, objectively speaking, but by high-end standards it’s an absolute steal. Economy of scale is a wonderful thing! :) BTW, Dr. Sardonicus got it dead-on in PFO. He nailed the essence of the player.

Hooper, do you prefer the SA-7S1 to the RAM modified X-01 you reviewed
some time ago?

Lula:

I still have my modded X-01, and love it. The SA-7S1 is a completely different machine—not quite as transparent, but as involving a player as I’ve heard. Music just seems to flow very organically and continuously, and it simply sounds “right,” in a way that a live performance does. My Esoteric does the same thing, and perhaps a bit more, but it’s also considerably more expensive.

Hooper,
Can you describe a little further the differences between your modded
X-01 and the SA-7S1? You say the latter "is a completely different machine".
Can you elaborate? Would you still have purchased the modded X-01 after
hearing the Marantz?